Grand Central: Will it Be One and Done for the ECB?

Among the many central banks holding policy meetings this week, only the European Central Bank is expected to change its stance.

ECB officials from president Mario Draghi on down have signaled about as clearly as central bankers can signal that interest rate cuts and other measures are likely at Thursday’s policy meeting. They’re looking at a menu of options, including negative interest rates on deposits left by banks at the ECB, long-term loans to banks at capped interest rates and purchases of packaged bank loans. But as J.P. Morgan economists noted in a Friday commentary, the real mystery isn’t what choices they make from this menu Thursday, but how determined they sound about further efforts at future meetings to lift European inflation and growth if needed.